Family Life with Us

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Blessed Baptism

We had a great family focused weekend
with a Saturday night stay at
a local indoor water park.

Just the four of us together
for some dedicated fun time.

Ready to swim! Don't lose your admission bracelet!

ELECTRONIC BANKING Monopoly.
IT HAS CREDIT CARDS...whoa...

Our BEAUTIFUL boy as he begins
his journey of building his life
on the rock of Jesus Christ.

So Blessed!

Eli and Pastor Rennick...aren't they just handsome.

Eli and Pastor Samme Rousopoulos, his children's pastor.

Eli and Miss Mandy, one of the youth pastors.

Eli and one of the pretty youth girls,
Samantha, who just happens to be his cousin
Ashley's BEST friend.

Okay...what my heart feels when I look at these
next pictures and when I remember
those few moments on that day...

No words can really express the depth of
that kind of complete joy!

Holy is the Lord God Almighty...

How profoundly thankful I am
to be this child's mother...that God saw
fit to bestow on me such a gift, I am humbled.

I am honored to have played a part in his birth
into this world and am AWED to have witnessed
his birth into the spirit.

Mere words...honest words
but they don't even come close
to all my eyes saw and the
memories that filled my heart as I watched
him declare his salvation to the world
as Jesus did.

If you ever had a hand on our child,
ever said a prayer for him,
sang a song about Jesus to him,
taught him a Sunday School Lesson or a virtue,
if you took his baby hand and patted a bible,
provided him a Christian model,
loved him or cared for him,
or shown Jesus to him in anyway...

We thank you. Our joy is yours as well
and is only complete when we share it with you.

God is so good. He is FAITHFUL!

Ze Fronch Louver vit ze moosestash... (for our favorite blog fan Jennifer)

Ahhh...mon cheri!
Vould zu like to kiss ze lettle man vit
ze car jammiez? Ahh, YES my sveet, yust cloze
zhour eyes and make zees face vit zhour leepz!
My moosestash vill be a delightful tickle, no?

Robey

Robey
The Rabble Rouser
(We're considering the Registered Name of
FireWhiskey Robber but haven't decided.)

Okay so...everytime I go to buy dog food and
pick up the 40 POUND BAG that lasts a week or
so and it says on there "For Large Breed Puppies" I HAVE
to maniacally laugh at the SHEER irony as I lug it
all the way up to the checkout line (all the while hollering "COME ON!"
at Isaac who is intently busy trying to help all the rats escape.)
UGH! PetSmart!

Large breed puppy certainly describes him but
lacks the proper punch...

It should say... "For Large Breed, Dirt-Digging, Rock Eating,
Crotch Sniffing, Leg Humpin', Weiner Lickin', Worm Grubbin',
Mulch Messin', Barkin', Howlin', Whinin', Jumpin', Tacklin',
Flyin' Furballs that you must be INSANE to own
but LOVE that you do Puppies."

The Napping Place

Our boys have always been
very affectionate cuddle bugs
but sometimes Isaac chooses
strange positions AND
Eli LOVES when Isaac is
asleep. He won't wake him for anything!
Even if he has to go pee!

Friday, October 26, 2007

There Were Tons of Other Magical Moments...

Our Magic Moments Captured
by Disney PhotoPass

The nightly parades and fireworks were fabulous!
We saw Cinderella's Coach.

But mostly we truly enjoyed unforgettable moments together...

Ah...the cars. This was the most fun Isaac ever had
in his entire life. The least fun he ever had was getting
off of them. We won't show pictures of that...not pretty
BUT we have them for later when we need them.
--Giant tantrum pictures of screaming and wailing have
to be good for something, right?

Uncle Eric is a fabulous Manny.
He helped so much with Isaac that it was
our running joke that he was in fact Our Nanny
along for the trip...that term of endearment
transformed in to THE MANNY and when
The Hosmer's left it was truly hard on everyone.
Isaac especially missed Uncle Eric.
They saw all sorts of things together...just the two of them.
Isaac still likes to "fight" like the guys at The Indiana Jones Show
at MGM. As a side, Jeri (aka Momma) got to ride all
sorts of rollercoasters and subject everyone to her
mini panic attacks prior to each ride.

This was the day that we stood in line the longest
to get on possibly what was the shortest yet wettest
ride of any park. A thunderstorm rolled over
as we were waiting to go down Kali River Rapids
and so it was shut down until the storm was over.
We spent nearly 1.5 hours watching little green
lizards crawl among the Tibetan statues, talking to nice
folks in line and trying to not knock Shelby and Eli out.

Once we finally got up there though, it was fun.
Kristen stated adamantly that it was worth the wait
to see Jeri get completely soaked and watch her skirt fly up
as we went down the biggest rapid. Shelby
was drenched and remained so loudly
for the rest of the day. Hence the aforementioned
t-shirt purchase and tank-top travesty.

Through The Looking Glass...

We had a wonderful breakfast at
The Grand Floridian with
The Mad Hatter, Alice, Mary Poppins
Pooh and others...

Nana and Paw's Resort

The Grand Floridian.
We're sure if we ever get Nana and Paw
down to Disney with us that THIS
is where The Nana will want to stay.
It has a spa and everything.

Coincidentially, we rode boats like
those pictured above out on the lake.
It was in one of these very boats that lake
patrol pulled Jeri over for driving too close to the shore.
They were very appreciative of the fact that the BIG
passenger boats were freaking her out and she was
just trying to give them their right of way (and as much
of it as she possibly could). Yikes!
Being pulled over by Disney water security is VERY magical.

Isaac's Return to Pooh Corner

This place Isaac dearly loved last year. His return this year was even more enoyable. While the big kids were off riding rides that make most people dizzy and sick, Gus and Momma and (lots of the time) Uncle Eric found enchanting little corners to play. Pooh's place is perfect for that.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

UGH! Disney Pins...they NEVER shut up about them!

They traded pins everywhere with everyone.
Shelby's pin passion was pins featuring groupings of characters.
Eli spent his time trying to trade for the
baby faced versions of the characters.
The both were on the hunt for Hidden Mickey's.

Look closely at Shelby's gorgeous green and maroon
tank tops in this picture. They were brand new.
Sadly, this was the last time that anyone ever saw
them on her body again. She made the mistake
of buying a t-shirt at Animal Kingdom and having
Uncle Matt "help" carry her wet tanks after we
rode Kali River Rapids...
Uncle Matt managed to lose several things on this trip
(he was so enamored with Mickey)
like his Treo and OUR CAMERA as well as
Shelby's tanks. Thankfully, we got the phone
and THE CAMERA back but as far as we know
Shelby's tank tops are still riding the bus between
Animal Kingdom and Saratoga Springs.
The phone had a great ride on the Epcot Bus
before we found that and THE FREAKIN' CAMERA
was almost headed back to the airport before we
realized the mistake... We teased and teased
him since no real harm was done but we
made dang sure that he wasn't in charge of the baby!
(just kidding Uncle Matt)

Dinoland at Animal Kingdom

Larger than life...

Up and Down...

Riding High...

The PRIMEVAL Whirl...they thought it'd be cake.
They didn't need us. It was a kiddie ride.
Suckers...

Here they are on the right screaming their little heads off.

Spirit of Aloha

We had a wonderful time
at The Spirit of Aloha Show at
The Polynesian Resort but
we were all simply amazed
at the fire-eater guy...ouch.

He not only licked the flame BUT...

It looks as though the flame licked him...OHMIGOSH!

Dinner was delicious, served family style.
Isaac really liked the sweet bread.

Obviously, Eli was THRILLED with the chocolate
volcanoes that arrived flaming and overflowing
with their yummy lava!

Where OH WHERE have we been?

Well...from June 10-ish until July 4th
we got lost in Disneyland and then it took us
until school started to recover from vacation.
Then, school started and well...you know how that
goes and then soccer started and so FINALLY
it is fall break and we have a chance to breathe.
We'll try to bring ya'll up to
speed with our goins'
and doins'.

Main Street - Magic Kingdom

Eli and Shelby entering Magic Kindom!

Here we are with a special little visitor. Think Tink!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Corny 38th!

This year for Matt's Birthday,
the boys and I thought he should
have some time to stop and smell the flowers.

So, we bought him a hammock that somehow
didn't get together right on the first try...

Here, Matt was at his all-time low.

Then he hit rock bottom when he realized that
he was 38...it was bad.

Dinner revitalized the old man and...

we were honored to have
very special birthday balloons during dinner...

Matt couldn't BELIEVE the trouble we had gone to
to get those balloons to float over just for his big day...

After that, things got interesting when
Eli gave a short keynote speech
about politics from and 8 year-old perspective.

Robey got all relaxed and then things got
really crazy when we found that
there are many technical and
emotional facets involved
when you go to eat corn...